Where the Wild Things Are
by MercurialInK
Summary: If Camp Half-Blood never existed, and there was no save haven for Demigods, what would become of them? How would they survive in the world? Rated T for battle scenes, language, and romance.
1. Unexpected Revelations

Where the Wild Things Are – Unexpected Revelations

**Okay, before I begin, let me explain: This is a Percy Jackson fanfiction based on the premise that Camp Half-Blood never existed. What would happen if demigods had no place to go to when monsters started to attack them? This story follows Annabeth, Thalia, Luke, Percy, Clarisse, Nico, and others, and their struggles to survive. For the sake of this story, Annabeth is twelve when she meets up with Luke and Thalia. Loosely, it is centered around the children of the 'big three:' Poseidon, Zeus and Hades, so we'll see plenty of Nico, Bianca, Percy, and Thalia. **

**Got it? Fantastic. **

**Oh, and before I rush on ahead – I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, its characters; this fanfiction is written purely for personal entertainment, etc etc. **

**Okay then. Sorry to hold you up – here's the story!**

The sun was just beginning to set over the west, and Luke's eyes caught the last rays of light, flashing with red and gold.

Even now, when we had a rare moment to rest, he was wary, not enjoying the beauty of the sunset but keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any hint of monsters. Every muscle in his body was tensed up, anticipating an attack.

We weren't even out of our teenage years yet, and Luke and I had already killed countless numbers of monsters. It made me sad to think that if we had been normal kids, Luke and I might be preparing to go to college soon.

But of course college was out of the question. Our education had been in our own hands since we were in middle school, and it hadn't ever been our number one priority. Survival occupied the majority of our time. We had met a few half-bloods like ourselves, wandering without a goal, through the mortal world. Few lived to be as old as Luke and I. Sometimes, if we found a half-blood who was just beginning to be thrown into a harsh world of monsters and fighting for their lives, we would try and keep them with us, to help them survive. The never did.

"What are you thinking, Thalia?" Luke asked, surprising me.

"That I wish we were worrying about college exams right about now," I answered. There were no secrets between us. "And that we were able to defend a demigod for more than a few days."

Luke's face darkened. From the way his eyes flashed, I knew he had been thinking the same thing, but his thoughts were taking a much angrier twist than my own. He was thinking about Ariel, the latest half-blood we had failed to defend. He had lasted three weeks, longer than any demigod we had ever tried to save. A hellhound had finished him off only yesterday.

I reached out, and took his hand in my own.

"The next one will survive, Luke," I said quietly. "Forget yesterday. We have to keep thinking positively. Tomorrow will be better."

Luke nodded, but he cast a venomous look up at the sky.

"Do you not care?" He demanded. I knew from experience that he was speaking to the gods, not me, so I didn't take offense at the harshness in his tone. I didn't know if they ever listened, but he had some choice words for them now and again, and I hoped for his sake that they weren't "He didn't even know his parents," Luke shouted, "and you let him go out into the world on his own!"

I had never known my parents either, I thought, unsettled. If I had not met Luke, I might have died as Ariel and countless other half-bloods we had found and taken in had. Luke, at least, knew who his mother and his father were. He was a son of Hermes. He had lived with his mother for many years before being forced to the streets. I had grown up on them.

A growl behind us shook Luke roughly from his grief. Even mourning a half-blood he had actually begun to accept as a friend, he couldn't forget the position we were both in.

We were perched on the top of a hill, surrounded by a vast forest. Neither of us knew where we were, but it didn't matter. On spot was just as good as the other – monsters found us either way.

But as we both turned, ready to fight with our weapons in hand, to fight the hellhound, a girl backed out of the trees in front of us, backing up onto the hill. She had a spear in her hand, and she was holding a monster at bay – it looked a little like a massive lion, but it shared its neck with a dragon and a goat, and it had a scorpions tail.

"Didn't we kill that thing, like, a week ago?" Luke muttered under his breath.

"Feels like it," I said. "But they start to blend together after a while. Now, if you'll excuse me."

I leaped into the fray, my sword going for the dragon head, knowing that one to be the most dangerous, from experience. I had a scar on my right elbow from its flames. The girl was busy with the lion head right in the center, and trying to avoid being stung by the poisonous tail.

"Nice night for fighting monsters, huh?" I called cheerfully to the girl. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke move forwards to try and draw the creature's stabbing tail away from the girl and I.

The girl didn't answer my question. With a smooth twist of her spear, she loped off the lion head, and leaped over the chimera's heads, onto it's back, and slammed her weapon into the creature's spine.

The chimera crumpled underneath her, turning to ash.

"Thanks for the help," the girl said coldly, wiping her spear on the grass.

"Hey, we were keeping the dangerous parts busy," Luke shot back.

"Yeah, whatever," the girl said, tossing her blonde hair over one shoulder.

And then she was gone. I looked over at Luke, and shrugged.

"Can't have been older than twelve," he answered my unasked question.

"Good fighter," I murmured. "Think she's a child of Ares?" Luke shook his head.

"No, can't have been. Did you see how she fought, all grace, speed, and style? Ares wins by brute strength. There's nothing of the god of war in there," he said. His face lit up with a rare smile. "She fought like you," he said. "Think you could be sisters?"

I rolled my eyes and shoved him.

"So do we go after her?" I asked.

"She's obviously doing fine without us," I heard him answer doubtfully. I heard the reluctance there that had nothing to do with the girl, and everything to do with what had happened the last time we had taken in a half-blood.

A very loud scream decided the question for us, coming from the direction the girl had run in.

Luke and I were off, moving as fast as our feet would carry us. It took us only a few seconds to reach the clearing the scream had come from.

The girl was surrounded on all sides by hellhounds.

"Holy shit, what are you, a daughter of Zeus?" I demanded of the girl. "You have black luck."

The girl only shrugged.

"I didn't ask for your help," she said. Her eyes were seizing up her opponents, the dark hellhounds that were salivating shadows as they formed a ring around us. But I heard the fear there, the fear that had driven her to scream. I don't care how brave you are; when a score of hellhounds ambushes you in a dark forest (and the forest was dark, night having crept in while we fought the chimera), you're going to freak out.

"Thalia," Luke said, taking charge easily. "How many?"

I hefted my broadsword in my hand, and drew the second sword I kept strapped to my back, thinking.

"Six. Seven, maybe?" I said uncertainly, judging the size of my opponents, and how fast they were likely to be. Luke nodded to the girl, asking her the question without words.

"Five," her voice shook, but not from doubt. Luke looked like he had half a mind to question her, and then shrugged. We were screwed either way, I thought. No way we can take an enough to get rid of twenty plus of these brutes.

The hellhounds were circling us now, knowing we had no way of winning, enjoying our fear.

"Alright then ladies, lets have at it," Luke yelled the last four words as he rushed to the attack. The girl didn't need telling twice – she was already moving to the attack.

I rushed the nearest hellhounds, both swords swinging for all I was worth.

The world narrowed down to a single focal point – all of existence was my weapons, the opponents I was facing, and my own body. I dodged and blocked the attacks of hellhounds I saw out of the corner of my eyes, but I focused on attacking only one at a time.

"One!" I heard Luke yell triumphantly.

"Two!" I yelled in return as my first hellhound fell, crumpling to darkness beneath me.

We would count like this often when we faced multiple opponents, or could not see each other when we fought. It gave us a rough estimate as to how far we had come through the battle, and whether or not we were both sill alive.

I turned to fight the next hellhound, swinging with both my swords.

"Three!" The girl yelled, catching on.

I stabbed out again, and kept moving. I couldn't see Luke or the girl. I couldn't even see my own weapons in front of my face as they slashed through the darkness. I didn't even know whether or not I was actually causing the monsters any harm.

"Four!" Luke yelled.

About five minutes of frantic fighting passed, silent except for the roars of the hellhounds, and the occasional yell from Luke and the other demigod girl that told me I wasn't alone. I knew I was probably injured, and badly so, but I couldn't feel anything; adrenaline was pumping through my veins to the extent that there was nothing. Nothing but me and my weapons against a hoard of hellhounds.

There was a sudden eruption of light on my left. I staggered, temporarily blinded. An arm dragged me backwards, and for a moment I fought instinctively, until I realized that the arm was human and decidedly not trying to kill me.

My eyes slowly adjusted to the light, and I realized that Luke had set his sword on fire. He was keeping the hellhounds at bay, letting the girl and I take a breather.

The girl was in bad shape. I couldn't even tell where her injuries were, she was so covered in blood. I doubted I fared much better.

"How many?" Luke called. I evaluated the hellhounds left, cowering at the edge of the circle of light Luke had created around us.

"Maybe half?" I called uncertainly. I heard Luke's answering curse.

"Well, we're still alive aren't we?" the girl said optimistically.

I knew Luke was rolling his eyes, even though I couldn't see his face.

"So we run?" I asked, gasping for breath. My right side was beginning to feel like it had been set on fire.

"And how far to we make it before the hellhounds jump us? They're faster than we are, and not as tired," the girl snapped back.

"Do you have a better option?" I demanded.

"Yes, we keep fighting," the girl replied. "We're halfway done already, aren't we?"

I saw the fire starting to dim on Luke's sword.

"Another minute, and the decision will be made for us," I said warily.

"I don't think we have a minute," Luke answered.

A particularly brave hellhound jumped Luke, and the light went out.

In stories, the heroes talk about how time stops when something truly tragic or joyful happens. That's not true. Time goes on. The hellhounds were on the offensive, coming straight at us in real time. It was my mind that was working in slow motion; it was like trying to think through frozen honey.

The hellhounds were on us once again, but I never lifted my sword. I was frozen in a haze of emotion that couldn't be named. It held me in an icy grip. I could have been torn apart by hellhounds, without noticing. Or caring, for that matter.

All I could think was that Luke was gone.

I couldn't loose Luke. He had saved me when I had first been thrown into this whole mess. He had been with me for as long as I could remember. He was a part of my soul.

Panic, terror, and pain gripped my heart in a steel fist.

And then I screamed.

There was no reason, no logic behind it. Air howled through my throat, tearing across my vocal chords. I wanted to die. I wanted to shatter into a thousand different pieces and just die. I had nothing except Luke. I didn't know how to live in a world where he did not. I couldn't comprehend living without him. And with the absence of any other option, not even able to see my friend, I screamed.

Somewhere underneath the veil of pain, I felt a foreign power coursing through me, tugging at my gut.

Light exploded around me again, except this time, my eyes didn't burn, and it felt familiar, and somehow comforting. Not foreign, I thought. New, but the same as an old friend.

Some part of me realized that this was lightning, striking at the ground right in front of me, accompanied simultaneously by thunder.

But the majority of my thoughts were occupied in two words that kept running through my head, accompanied by so much pain, there was no room for anything else.

_Not him._

I ran forward as the lightning faded, searching for Luke in the darkness. I couldn't even feel the tears that were running down my face, or the sobs that wracked my injured body.

"Oh gods," I heard a whispered from behind me. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Because Luke might be dead, and if he was, there was no reason for me to keep living. I couldn't travel aimlessly across the world. I wasn't Luke. I needed him more than I cared to admit – he gave me a purpose, something to defend. I loved him like he was a part of my own soul.

But what could I do? I was gripping Luke's body in my arms, rocking back and forth, unable to heal him, unable to do anything except pray. I prayed like hell at that moment, prayed for some miracle to save him. I prayed to every god and goddess I knew, Zeus, Hades, even Demeter.

And for the first time in my entire life, my prayers were answered.

It slowly dawned on me that there was some kind of light behind me, because I could see my own shadow on the ground. And there was someone talking, saying my name.

But it wasn't important. Not important at all. Not with Luke in my arms. I sunk into my grief like a cold blanket.

_Please don't be dead. You can't be dea_d, I thought desperately.

Someone was shaking me, calling my name, and trying to pry Luke from my hands. I swear I actually growled – whoever this was, they could pry my friend from my cold, dead fingers.

But I knew. Luke was as still as stone beneath me.

And then I felt movement underneath my fingers. A faint, sporadic heartbeat. My own heart skipped a beat, and relief washed over me like a wave, braking away the ice that encase me. I looked around for the girl, ready to ask for her help to save Luke - to take him to a hospital, or something -

"Thalia, look at me."

The voice that had been speaking in the back of my mind called my name with so much command that I had no choice but to look up, and meet his eyes.

They were cool, grey, and calculating, like a cloudy sky about to storm. There was so much power there.

Something was tugging at the back of my mind. I knew who this man was. I knew it, even though I had never seen him before.

He was my father. Zeus. Lord of Olympus. God of the sky.

He knelt by Luke, and placed his hand on the boy's chest. I saw it rise and fall deeply – a deep breath. I felt the heartbeat strengthen beneath me, saw his injures heal before my eyes.

He was going to live. He was going to be okay.

"Thank you," I whispered, rising to my feet uncertainly.

"My daughter," he said, cupping my face.

I don't know what I was thinking at this point. In my defense, I was half insane with grief, exhausted, and injured. I went from relieved to furious in the space of a single second.

I punched my father, the ruler of Olympus, in the face. He staggered backwards, shocked.

"All these years, we've been fighting monsters, scared of our own shadows, trying to defend helpless demigods that the lot of you couldn't even be bothered to even claim, without any point, any goal, totally lost. And this whole time, you couldn't even be bothered to say hi, or, I don't know, drop in, let us know that we're not a completely lost cause, or something!"

Five years of pent up anger went into this tirade, and the punch I threw at my father. I should have been grateful he saved Luke's life. I should have been happy to _be _alive.

But I was furious. And it really good when I scored that hit, and I felt more satisfaction than shame when he stepped back, startled, gripping his nose like it actually mattered that I had broken it.

"Thalia," he said, with infinitely more patience than I deserved at this point, "I apologize. But both you and I have more pressing matters to attend to at this time. War is brewing on Olympus, and your friends both need you, especially the young daughter of Athena."

I realized then, shamefully, that I had completely forgotten the girl we had fought with. I looked down, hiding the blush that crept into my cheeks.

My father pressed a sheathed sword into my hands.

"This is Astrapi," he said, kissing me on the cheek. "I know I come many years too late, but I hope you will someday understand why this was necessary. Be strong and courageous, my daughter. Those of our bloodline walk the darkest of paths, but we also light the brightest of lamps on our way."

I nodded numbly.

"Grigoreo, dynisomai; all shall be well, my child," Zeus blessed me.

I recognized the ancient Greek in my father's words - b_e watchful, be awake, be able. _

I felt an odd comfort in the ring of those words, as if I had heard them before. Like it was as familiar as saying 'goodnight' to Luke.

And then he was gone, and I was left alone, holding only a sword in my hands to prove my father had come to me at all.

"Wow," I heard a voice whisper.

Luke. I whirled, fighting the urge to laugh,

"Luke!" I almost yelled.

"Thalia," he answered hoarsely. I knelt by his side.

"So, a daughter of Zeus," he said, a playful shine in his eyes. "We have royalty in our presence, eh?" he called to someone behind me. I turned, and saw the girl watching me, her eyes wide and awed.

"Oh come now," I said, feeling cross. "What happened to the casual disrespect?" I asked.

"A daughter of Athena is never disrespectful; she refuses help when she doesn't need it, and accepts it when she does," the girl said, setting her chin stubbornly,

I liked this girl.

_Don't get attached. She might die, _a very dark part of me whispered. I shook it off. There could be no locking away my heart. I needed my allies.

"While we are on the subject of rudeness," Luke said, "perhaps we should introduce ourselves. I'm Luke, and this is, as you heard, Thalia."

"I'm Annabeth," the girl said. "Annabeth Chase."

"Well Annabeth, would you like to join us?" I asked. "I mean, if you don't mind the fact that we'll be attracting every monster between here and Hades, thanks to my parentage," I joked.

A horrible thought occurred to me. All those half-bloods that had joined us and died… what if they had only fell because they were forced to fight the monsters that were attracted to me? My stomach seemed to drop halfway to the realms of the dead as this revelation struck me.

"Should be interesting, at least," Annabeth said bracingly, offering me a hand. "Shall we go find a nice river to wash away all this blood?"

As we stood, I realized that all our injuries had been healed, no matter how minor. My father's presence had healed us.

I was suddenly glad for my illustrious parentage. Zeus was a good person to have on your side in a scrap.

It was only when we were already drying ourselves off that I realized that I had broken the nose of the most powerful of all the gods. And I couldn't help it. I laughed. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. And, when my friends – the word felt strange, alien, and wonderful, even just to think – realized why I was laughing, they joined in. And soon, we were rolling on the ground, sending dust flying into the air in clouds.

We were safe. We were alive. And I had broken Zeus's nose. And nothing had been funnier in my entire life.


	2. My Life, Undone

Where the Wild Things Are – My Life, Undone

**Here's the second Chapter in my Where the Wild Things Are fanfiction! This one is from Percy's point of view. It's not as dark as it could be, but I just wasn't in the mood to go all twisty and jaded. Just to be clear, Percy is twelve, and its Christmas break, when he comes home from Yancy. And Zeus' lightning bolt has just been discovered missing.**

**Sorry for taking so long to update, I've been on a double debate trip! Go Model United Nations and Model Congress!**

**As usual, I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This story is purely for entertainment purposes, etc. **

**Enjoy!**

SUBWAY EXPLOSION CLAIMS 200 LIVES IN FREAK ACCIDENT

It is unknown at this time what caused the massive explosion that claimed the lives of 238 passengers on the New York E train at 8:00 AM this morning. Police have been called in to investigate the possibility of a terror attack, while construction crews have been called in to begin immediate repairs to the Subway system.

Both the Police and the Transit office issued statements promising to look into the safety of all rail systems in New York, and offering deepest condolences to the family members of the victims of what is, at this time, being viewed as a tragic accident. It is not known at this time if there are any survivors of the explosion. The New York Police Department urges any survivors to seek medical help, and come forward with any information that they may _(story continued on page 3)._

I tossed the paper onto the table in Starbucks, feeling vaguely sick.

There had been only one survivor of the explosion. I knew it, because I was it. I had been on the subway with my mother that morning. And I had been the only one to get out in time.

I also knew that this 'accident' was no accident. But there was no way I was going to tell the police department that. What would I say? Hi, I just survived this explosion you're talking about and it was actually caused by some giant, six headed, fire-breathing monster out of some fantasy book? I had ADAD, and Dyslexia, but I wasn't stupid. I'd end up in some crazy house if I came forward with the truth.

_A crazy house might be better than having to live with Smelly Gabe, _I thought. And I wasn't so sure I wasn't totally crazy either. I had seen some gigantic, monstrous _thing _explode the subway underneath New York. I had heard my mother scream as she and 237 other people were blasted into nothingness as I ran like hell through the subway, trying to avoid the flames.

Clearly this was a delusion. I was going to go home, and my mom would be there, smiling and worrying, wondering why I was late.

I had almost convinced myself of it too.

And then this kid who looked like he was maybe a year younger than me sat down across from me.

"Percy Jackson?" the kid asked.

"Yeah," I said cautiously.

"Percy, you have to come with me. You're in danger."

I didn't budge, expect to fold my arms over my chest and glare at the kid, waiting for an explanation. He looked around nervously.

"I'm not going anywhere," I replied.

"Listen, you're in danger. There are… powerful people trying to kill you right now."

"Like who?" I demanded.

The boy looked up, and muttered something before leaning in very close to my face.

"At school, did you ever learn about the Greek gods?" he asked cautiously.

"Yeah, Zeus, Apollo, those guys. What about them?"

"They're real," he said. I was waiting for him to crack a grin, and yell 'psych!' but his face was deadly serious. "Them and the monsters that accompany their stories in all the Greek legends, they're real. And right now, a lot of them are trying to kill you. Which is why we have to go. Now!"

I wasn't sure how to respond to that. Obviously this kid was nuts.

"Percy, the Hydra attacked you on the subway this morning. It was sent there by Hades."

"So you're saying the gods actually exist. Assuming I believe you, why on earth would they want to kill me, and how do you know?"

"I know, because I'm a satyr. I hear things."

I glanced under the table, vaguely recalling that satyrs were half-goat. The legs under the table certainly looked normal.

"And they want to kill you because something very important was stolen. Zeus' lightning bolt has gone missing, and the gods think you're responsible."

"Why would I be responsible for stealing a gods lightning bolt?" I demanded, against my better judgment. This was impossible. I was sitting in Starbucks, talking to a complete stranger – who by the way, claimed to be a satyr – about how the ancient Greek gods were real and out to get me.

"Because of your father," the self-proclaimed satyr replied.

Whoa.

What?

"What?" I asked the question again, out loud. "What does my father have to do with this?"

The kid seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment, trying to decide how to answer my question.

"Your father is Poseidon, Percy."

Okay, that was it. This was just a little to weird for me now.

"Um, okay. Thanks for the warning," I mumbled, and half ran out of the Starbucks.

The kid followed me back out onto the street. It was snowing again.

"Percy, I'm serious!" The kid said. I snorted.

"I have to get home," I answered, starting to really run now, hindered by the crowds of people. The kid had no trouble keeping up. He caught my shoulder and spun me around.

"You can't go home. Zeus has monsters waiting at your apartment. He thinks you stole his lightning bolt! He's not going to just let you go!"

The boys warning chilled me almost as much as the snow did, but I lost him a couple of blocks later.

I needed to get home. I needed this horrible nightmare to end. I wanted my mom, and I wanted some reality, even if that reality was Smelly Gabe. I needed to prove to myself that I was just freaking out a bit, and that my mom was fine, and the gods were where they were supposed to be – garbled letters in my history textbook.

A block away from my house, my hopes were crushed.

A huge bull was standing outside my apartment, on its two hind legs. There were people passing on the street, no one seemed to notice it except for me. They passed straight by my apartment without seeing it.

My mom is dead.

The realization hit me as I stood there, staring at this bull.

My mom is dead, and there are monsters trying to kill me.

"Oh good lord, the Minotaur," I heard a voice behind me. It was the kid, but this time, he really was half goat.

"I believe you now," I told him, backing slowly away from the bull.

"Time to go," the satyr said.

But the Minotaur had seen us. It roared and charged down the street. It was on us in a matter of seconds; we managed to dive out of the way into an alley only just in time to avoid being trampled.

The Minotaur appeared at the entrance to the alley, growling. I cast around desperately for a way out, but the alley was a dead end.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a staircase, ending several feet above my head, against the building to my right. A fire escape.

"Over there!" I whispered to the satyr. The kid took a running leap and grabbed onto the bars as the Minotaur charged again.

This time I was ready, and dodged around the bull.

A searing pain tore into my side, and I was sent sprawling. It took me a moment to realize that the Minotaurs' horn had clipped my side.

I pulled myself to a sitting position, hearing a funny ringing in my ears. I looked around, and I saw the satyr standing on the first landing of the fire escape, yelling something.

Somehow, I got to my feet and dragged myself towards the fire escape. The Minotaur was watching me, its breath coming in huge, rasping grunts. It knew I was done for.

I jumped for the lowest rung of the fire escape without any real hope that I could reach it. My fingers just brushed it. Keeping an eye on the Minotaur, I jumped again.

Three things happened almost simultaneously at that second.

First, I grabbed onto the bar. The second was that the Minotaur charged me.

And then the bar broke. I crashed to the ground, the metal bar still in my hand.

With the Minotaur charging me, totally weaponless and injured, I did the only thing that came naturally to me; I shut my eyes tightly, and swung the bar with all my strength.

A very load roar shook the alley. I thought for sure someone must have heard it. I could _feel _it in the ground.

And then there was nothing. No sound, except for the slow dripping of water from the fire escape.

I opened my eyes. The Minotaur was gone. I looked all around, but I couldn't even find an indication of the bull, or even any blood anywhere.

"Did I kill it?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, you did," the satyr said. His voice shook a little with fear and awe. "Monsters crumble to dust after you kill them."

"Hell," I whispered. The world spun, dancing out of focus before my eyes. I grabbed out for the wall to steady myself.

"So the Greek gods are real," I mumbled, my eyes half closed. "There are monsters running around New York, and my mom is dead."

Hearing myself say it made it official. Made it real.

My mom was dead, because some monster had been trying to kill me on the subway. And all those other people, people that had nothing to do with the monster that had ended their lives.

But even as I stood there, feeling my injuries caused by my fight with the Minotaur, I felt my certainty ebb. I was dyslexic, I had ADHD. I was a troublemaker. In the past six years, I had been to as many schools. I got into fights, and I'd never gotten above a C average in my life. I was a failure.

"How is this possible?" I whispered hoarsely. "How could I be the kid of some god?"

I closed my eyes, as if by enveloping myself in darkness, I could block out the day's events. I wasn't capable of processing all this.

"Let me guess, you're hyperactive, diagnosed with ADHD, and when you read English, the words mess up on the page in front of you," the Satyr said. I nodded. "The hyperactivity is your battle reflexes; you notice too much, not too little. Like you just saw, it keeps you alive in a fight. The dyslexia is because your brain is hardwired for ancient Greek, not English."

It made sense. I didn't want to believe it, but it made sense. And what else could I think? I opened my eyes, and saw the Satyr in front of me. He was still very definitely half goat.

"Did she know?" I asked.

I had to know. I had to know if she had understood what had been going on when my mother told me to get off the train. I had to know if she knew who my father was. The world was spinning before my eyes, but I forced it back into focus.

"She did know, Percy," the satyr said gently. "They loved each other very much."

"If he loved her so much, why did he leave her? Why did he leave her to Gabe?" I demanded. Suddenly I was angry. My mother had loved the God of the Sea, which was, from what I knew, the one good break she had gotten all her life. How had she ended up with Smelly Gabe?

"Your father broke Olympian law when he sired you," the satyr said. "Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon have made an oath not to have any more demigod children. They're too volatile, too powerful. Zeus found out, and ordered your father back to Olympus. Your mother married Gabe so that his overpowering and repulsive scent would keep monsters off your track."

"So how come I exist?" I asked.

"Like I said, Poseidon really loved your mom," the satyr said, shrugging.

"Right," I said, still unwilling to believe.

"So what do we do next?" I asked the Satyr. "You said we had to go somewhere?"

"The Satyrs are afraid of the gods," he said. "We're afraid that there is going to be a war, and when that happens, we're going to be forced into it, whether we like it or not. Athena appeared to our council when the lightning bolt was discovered missing, and charged us to get it back."

"I don't have it," I reminded him wearily.

"No, we didn't think so" the Stayr said. "But Athena has a hunch as to who might have the lightning bolt. She thinks Hades has it. And her hunches usually turn out to be correct."

"So why come and find me?" I asked.

"Athena knew who would be blamed for the missing bolt. She didn't think you were going to be safe from the wrath of Zeus or the monsters that roam freely around here much longer, and she wanted us to bring you to the sacred ground of the Satyrs, so that at the very least, we could buy you some time while we search for the bolt."

"Why can't I come with you to get the bolt?" I asked. While sitting out this one sounded very preferable to going down to the realm of Hades, I couldn't be okay with letting someone else put themselves in danger for me. "I mean, its me that gets in trouble if the bolt isn't found. It's my father who will have to fight the war that would ensue if Zeus wont see reason. Let me help get it back."

"You're going to have to convince the council on that one," the Satyr said doubtfully. "Athena isn't our patron Goddess, but the council would not defy the request of a god."

"So lets just skip going to the council and get the bolt!" I suggested.

"Got any idea how to get to the underworld?" The Stayr shot back. I realized, suddenly, that he was scared. I remembered that for all that he was a fantastic creature, he couldn't be any older than I was myself. I decided to drop the point, for now.

"So how do we get to this council?" I asked after a few moments of silence.

"Its not far, depending on whether or not we can find a ride partway," he answered, looking relieved that I had abandoned the idea of going to the underworld.

I took a step away from the wall, and felt the world lurch. I swayed in place, reaching back out for the solid assurance of the wall. I definitely wasn't in any condition to head down to the underworld.

"Think we could catch a cab?" I asked. I still had a twenty that my mom had given me that morning in my pocket. "I don't think I could make it very far walking."

The Satyr extended his hand, and helped me limp out of the alley, onto the street.

I realized that even though we had just shared a life or death experience with this satyr, I didn't even know his name. When I shared is revelation with him, the satyr laughed a little.

"I'm Grover," he answered.


	3. Other

Where the Wild Things Are – Other

_Uppercut, twist, duck, block the strike aimed at my midsection, straighten, get in close, hilt to hilt; twist the blade smoothly and quickly, forcing your opponents hand to twist and let go of his sword._

I went through this sequence of movements in less time than it took to actually think the words that echoed in my head as I moved. The trick is to be lightning fast, or your opponent will see the move coming, and will act to stop you from disarming them.

This time, it worked. My brother's sword went scattering from his hand.

"Good job Nico!" I congratulated him. He shrugged, looking down. He doesn't understand why I have to push him. Why I need him to defend himself.

Nico and I are part of a world that exists beyond a normal human's ability to perceive. I envy those that can live ignorant of this other world.

We're the children of a god. I don't know which one, though I have some suspicions. Monsters attack us almost all the time. My brother, he sees human monsters, where the immortal ones stand. Its hard to pull a ten year old who really wants to fight out of one when you're not that much bigger, and when he thinks he's only going against one guy with a knife, even though you're looking at a ten foot tall scorpion.

I learned to fight what feels like an eternity ago. Even though I haven't held a weapon since my brother and I were sent to the Lotus Hotel and Casino, it all came back pretty quickly. The problem is, to be good, you need a lifetime of training. Fighting needs to be ground into your nature like breathing, so that you fight by instinct. In high pressure situations, it saves lives. I don't have that kind of training. I took classes in fencing and Krag Maga for five years. I was seven when I started, but I don't have the tools to defend me and my brother. And I'm a pitiful teacher.

We've been lucky. The monsters we have been fighting have been pretty easy. They haven't killed us at least. But worse ones will come, and Nico needs to be ready. And he needs to be able to see what we're fighting.

I would tell him, but I'm scared for him. I'm scared to throw my brother into this life. I know he has to find out eventually, but can't that wait? When he starts seeing the monsters I can explain. Until then, I want him to at least be able to tell himself that he is safe.

"Bianca, can't we stop?" he asked. Nico's covered in sweat, and we've been at it for a while. I put my sword back into the sheath at my side, and reach out for his hand.

"Yeah, let's go get something to drink."

Nico and I have been living at a hotel ever since we left the Lotus. The lawyer that brought us out took us here, and told us to wait. He explained our situation to me.

That was a few weeks ago, and we've been stuck here ever since.

Back inside the hotel room, we drank diet cokes, and watched TV. Well, Nico watched TV. I watched the street outside the window, waiting for an attack.

"Hello," the voice made me whirl around, but it was just the stupid lawyer. Charon. When I first met him, I had to wonder what psycho would name their kid Charon. Now I know that he's the actual Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx.

"Hey Charon," Nico said, waving. I watched him warily.

"What's going on?" I asked, carefully wording my question. "Is there a problem upstairs?" I added, folding my arms.

"Bianca, if you do not tell your brother the truth this instant, I shall," Charon answered.

"Do it and die," I said, drawing my sword. Charon laughed, and suddenly he was right in front of me.

"Do you think I fear violence, little demigod?" he asked, laughing derisively. "I am the ferryman of the dead. I cannot die."

"Yeah well, I bet you can still feel things hurt," I answered. Charon shrugged and stepped back.

"Nico, I have a secret to tell you," Charon said. Nico looked up, his face moving from confusion to delight.

I watched angrily as Charon detailed the secrets I had been trying to keep from my brother for weeks.

"Charon, why are you here?" I demanded when he was done. Nico was glaring at me like I had just shoved a puppy down a garbage disposal and turned it on.

"Zeus' lightning bolt has gone missing. All the demigods are coming under suspicion, because one of them has stolen it," Charon said. "Percy Jackson. He's a few years younger than you, and he's dangerous - the son of Poseidon. The boy has almost managed to steal something very valuable from your father," Charon added carefully.

"Why would he steal them?" Nico asked.

"Probably for his father," Charon sounded like he really didn't care one way or the other. "I'm just here to warn you that if you see him, or if he tries to contact you, you should call me at once."

"So who, exactly, is our father?" I asked. "I think we deserve to know now, since you've so nicely tossed us to a bunch of monsters without telling us anything."

"You haven't figured it out yet?" he asked, smiling. "The ferryman of the River Styx has been escorting you, one of his prized possessions has been stolen along with one of Zeus' prized possessions for the glory of Poseidon…"

Hades.

I reeled back, clutching the wall for support. Nico was still looking at Charon and me, confused.

"Hades is our father?" I whispered.

"Give the lady a Golden Drachma," Charon said, clapping his hands.

"The god of death is our father."

"I just answered your question."

I rolled my eyes. Charon was about to leave when he turned back.

"That reminds me," he said. "I have another warning, from myself, rather than from your father. There is a prophecy, a prophecy which could put you in some sticky situations. Poseidon, Zeus and Hades made an oath not to have children, because there was a prophecy that the child of one of them could bring about the ruin of the gods when they turned sixteen. So watch your backs. And consider your options."

With a mock bow to me, he vanished in a flare of fire.

"You should have told me," Nico said, pouting.

"I was trying to keep you safe, Nico. I'm really sorry about lying, but I didn't want you to get messed up in all of this."

"So there are real monsters, and real magic?" he asked, looking at his deck of cards. "Like in the game?"

"Yeah, like the game, except real," I said. "The monsters are real, and if they kill you, or if they kill you, it hurts for real."

I pulled back my sleeve to show him the claw marks that were still drawn in red on my upper arm. I had gotten it two nights ago. It was painful and I had been hoping for Nico not to know, but I saw the look in his eyes. He would run off looking for a monster first thing if I didn't impress upon him now that this was serious.

Nico didn't say anything.

"Why would that Percy kid try and come to us, anyway?" he asked finally, when I pulled the sleeve of my shirt back over the cuts.

"Dunno," I answered. "A million reasons– we're cousins, I guess, so he might think we'd hear him out, or maybe he would just want to find someone like him. Someone who can see the other things out there."

"Doesn't sound like a nice kid," Nico decided. I rolled my eyes. Nico was very stubborn. He returned to watching TV.

Something caught my eye when I was about to climb on the bed to join my brother. A pamphlet was on the ground. I picked it up, heading for the bathroom so that I could read it in private. It had pictures of girls shooting bows and fighting.

It was an advertisement to join the Huntresses' of Artemis.

Charon must have left it for me. But why? Why would he leave something like this lying around? Did he want me to be a Huntress, and leave Nico all alone? If I was me, alone, I might have been tempted. Nico is my brother though. I would never leave him, not for something like this. I was about to toss it when I realized that Nico might find it. I folded it and put it in my pocket to get rid of later.

I wondered why my father had never contacted my brother or I before. I mean we were his kids! And I had never heard of a Greek God having two kids with the same mortal, so he must have stayed with her for a while.

I returned to the main room, and sat on the bed with Nico.

I wondered why we were here. Why move us, when we weren't doing anything here that we couldn't do at the Lotus? I mean, besides nearly getting killed by monsters every other night.

I had pondered the question before, but now that I have more chips in my hand, thanks to Charon, I put my mind back to the issue. It's not because of the theft business. We were taken out of the Lotus before they were stolen. I think that something big is about to happen. It has something to do with the prophecy Charon told us about.

Charon had said that Hades, Zeus and Poseidon couldn't have kids. Nico and I are proof that at least one of those gods didn't keep the oath. Poseidon obviously broke it too. And from what I know of the Greek legends, Zeus would not have kept his oath if even one of the other brothers had broken it.

I was fourteen, Nico was ten, so neither of us was approaching that crucial turning point of our sixteenth birthdays. Charon had said that Poseidons' son was younger than me, so it wasn't him.

Which left my theoretical child of Zeus. If they were approaching their sixteenth, then that would make sense, at least for our fathers' enemies – I mean, if Zeus' kid wouldn't help destroy the gods, we could be insurance that they would have a second chance.

Why our own father would want us out in the open, that was the headache. I didn't like that I didn't know what was happening. It felt too much like we were being manipulated.

"When did you get cut?" Nico asked after about half an hour. His face was narrowed into a look of sharp concentration. I know the look, because its mine to. Had we been closer in age, my brother and I could have passed for twins – the same dark hair and eyes, the same pale skin, tall, lanky builds, and sharp, clever looks. Our mother was a blonde, which meant we got our looks from our father.

_Does Hades lift one eyebrow into a perfect arch like Nico does when he's waiting for an answer to something? _I wondered absently. I didn't remember anything about him. And then I shook myself, realizing that he was waiting for an answer from _me. _

"Sorry, what?" I asked. Nico smiled, and asked again, when I had gotten cut.

"Two nights ago, down by the pool. There was a giant lion with wings," I answered. Nico fell silent again.

"How many other times have we been attacked without me knowing?" He demanded after a minute.

"More than you want to know," I said. Nico looked like he wanted to press the question, so I added "You see them as men and women, or cars trying to run us down maybe. There's something that makes people not see them the way they are, unless you know how to really see it."

"Again, why didn't you tell me about this a long time ago?" Nico asked. "I could have helped!"

"Nico, what could you have done?" I ask kindly. "You're ten. I'm fourteen. Neither of us are very good warriors, but at least I kind of know what I'm doing. I didn't want you to be involved."

Nico was about to argue again, but then he closed his mouth and hugged me. I held him tightly. I knew he was angry for having been left out of the loop. But he was fascinated with this other world, and he wanted to know more. I was going to have to watch him carefully.

"I love you Nico, you know that, right?" I asked, gently running my hand through his hair.

"I know Bianca. I love you too."

His hand tightened in mine, and I knew that for now, I had placated him.

For now.

"This is crazy though, huh?" Nico asked with a grin, shutting off the TV. I nodded.

"I wonder why Greek worship ever declined, if the gods were real," I wondered.

"Maybe they wanted less attention?" Nico suggested.

"Prehaps," I agreed.

"You think mom knew?" he asked me.

"Definitely." I said. "I mean, she had two kids with the guy. She knew who he was. They loved each other."

"How do you know? Nico asked. "Do you remember him?"

"I was four when you were born and he left a few months later. I don't even remember what he looks like."

"What about mom? Do you remember her?" Nico asked.

His question made me look down.

"You were ten," I said flatly. "Don't you remember her yourself?"

Nico shook his head.

"Everything from before… its all fuzzy, like a puzzle when you take the pieces and toss them into a bowl of water. They get all soggy and the colors run together, and you can never tell if they lead one way or the other."

I held Nico tightly for a second, and let go. I didn't know it had been so bad for him… I suddenly felt horrible about my silence.

"Mom was… beautiful," I said. "She had a smile that would shine like the sun breaking through the clouds for the first time that morning. She baked, though she couldn't cook for her life. And she would sing, all the time, with the voice of an angel. And when she was with Hades… They sang together. And played music. Why do you think you can play four instruments while most kids fumble over piano lessons at your age?"

Nico looked down at his hands, surprised.

_He doesn't remember!_

Tears suddenly stung my eyes. I had everything, he had nothing. Not even music. It hardly seemed fair. The first thing I was doing when we had time was getting my brother an instrument.

"Yeah," I said. "You play piano and violin, like me. And you play saxophone and guitar too, though I believe you called the saxophone 'obnoxious in the extreme' and the guitar 'tacky and commercial.'"

Nico giggled, and then sobered.

"Sounds like something I would say. But I don't remember…" he said quietly. He looked up at me.

"Can you sing, like mom?" he asked.

"Not like mom, no," I said. "But I can sing some of her songs for you, if you want."

Nico nodded, so we settled back and I closed my eyes.

It was difficult to pull on memories from before the Lotus. But I had dwelt on them almost constantly for so long, I felt that the pictures had been burned into my mind. It was like with Nico's analogy: I still had the box for the puzzle with the pictures on it to help me figure out what swirling colors fit which piece, and which pieces matched up.

"_There's a little bird _

_that likes to perch on my window,_

_and he likes to sing a little tune_

_each and every morning_

_and as the sun rises he sings_

_Grigoreo, dynisomai_,

_and he lifts my heart_

_to courage and to strength_

_to keep me from despair_

_when I cry alone and in the night._

_Grigoreo, dynisomai_

_until we meet again, my love."_


	4. Thalia

Where the Wild Things Are: Thalia

**Sorry for the long period without updating, I got busy, and then I got busier. Junior year is being a bitch to me.**

**Meanwhile, guys, reviews put me in a much better mood to write. So review. Tell me who you want the story to focus on next, where you think I should go; like I always say, every one of my fics is as much an adventure for me as for my characters (or well, someone else's really). I have no idea where I'll end up when I begin.**

**This is chapter four of Where the Wild Things Are, brought to us by Annabeth. It's an action heavy chapter, with lots of intensity, if I do say so myself.**

**EDIT: sorry for reloading this a bunch of times, I kept missing some stupid grammatical and copy errors. I think its fine now, but let me know if there's anything over the top that I missed. **

**As usual, no copyright infringement is intended, etc. etc.**

Luke dumped the armload of firewood he was carrying beside the fire and sat down next to Thalia, who was spreading out all the gear in our packs to dry it out, even mine. The last three days had been nothing but rain and snow, and our stuff was still wet.

I was attempting to light a fire with what we already had, but the wood was far too wet – it had already been a day since the heavy rains had let up, but everything was still soaking wet. I couldn't even coax smoke from the piled branches.

"Can't you call down lightning or something?" Luke asked Thalia, probably a little more sharply than he meant to, nodding his head towards me and my pitiful attempt to light a fire. It was _cold._

"I tried," Thalia said through clenched teeth. "Obviously, someone higher up decided that setting a forest on fire is not considered to be a responsible use of power."

"Clearly, the gods would like us to either freeze or starve to death," Luke cut back.

"It is not the fault of the gods that you're a lousy shot," I said coolly. The last four days spent with Luke and Thalia had begun to irk me. Luke, no matter how noble, and brave, and whatever other good qualities he had, had started getting on my nerves with his anger against the gods. I agreed that it sucked we were left out on our own, but it wasn't the fault of our parents. It was nobody's fault. But, with the absence of someone to blame, and someone to be really angry at, Luke chose our divine parents. Well, our human parents shared the blame equally, and it wasn't either of their faults that monsters were attracted to demigods at all.

Besides, I had watched two rabbits scramble away from his shots, which had flown just too far to the left to hit. There was nothing else around; snow was still covering the ground, even if it was starting to get warmer, and I had seen no game since. So all in all, I wasn't favorably disposed to Luke at the moment.

Thalia cut off whatever retort Luke had intended to throw my way with a swift hurried movement towards her lips. Soundlessly, she reached over the packs for her sword.

"Fuck," I heard Luke swear under his breath. I reached for my own bow, and looked over my shoulder for Luke to find him already next to me, blade in hand. I hadn't even heard him move, let alone seen him go for his weapons.

"What did you hear?" I asked after a few seconds of silence.

Luke and Thalia glared at me to shut up, and I did. I saw Luke and Thalia counting silently, their lips moving but not making any noise. By my best count, they had reached a hundred when Thalia cast a suspicious look at the surrounding trees, and put her blade back down.

"Nothing," she said. With that, she returned to wringing out the second of her two shirts.

"Too bad," I muttered. "Could have been some of the game coming back after Luke scared it away."

For the life of me, I never saw Luke move. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, staring up at the silver blade of Luke's sword. His face was contorted with rage.

"Luke!" Thalia yelled.

For a second, I thought Luke was really going to kill me. And then he looked away. When I got up, he was sitting back down, polishing his blade as if nothing had happened.

Thalia was looking from me to Luke, her features moving between confusion and anger.

"We're friends here," she said calmly. I heard the icy command in her voice. "We don't have anyone else aside from each other. So the two of you need to get over yourselves and make up, because the next time we step into a battle, I want to know you have my back the same way I have yours."

There was a tense moment following her words.

"Sorry," Luke said.

"Sorry," I answered, sitting back down.

I didn't go back to trying to light a fire. It wasn't worth the effort – everything in the area was too wet. I used one of the thinner sticks to scratch out designs in the sand.

I felt a drop of water hit my face, and heard Thalia and Luke moan.

"Fantastic," Luke muttered.

All enmity forgotten, we stuffed all our supplies back into the bags and headed into the forest in search of deeper cover.

"Thalia, I'm just going to suggest it one more time," Luke said.

"We are not going into a city, Luke! We are not putting innocent people at risk because we have a mark on us!" Thalia answered. Thunder cracked overhead.

"If one of us catches pneumonia-"

"When was the last time you were sick, Luke?" Thalia snapped.

_Perhaps not _all_ enmity forgotten then, _I thought. I _really _didn't want to spend another night sleeping in the mud, waking up with freezing clothing. Just because the cold wasn't going to make me sick didn't mean it wasn't totally miserable. Luke's suggestion of finding real shelter sounded really fantastic to me.

"Who the hell heard of thunderstorms in March, on the east coast?" Luke burst out. "It should be snowing, not raining!"

"So you'd rather loose a few fingers to frostbite?" Thalia demanded. "Suck it up Luke, its just rain."

"Says the daughter of the God of Thunder," I grumbled.

There was silent for another minute, and then, as if the floodgates had been opened, the rain started coming down in earnest, pounding against the trees. Within minutes, we were soaked.

"Thalia, we should find a real shelter for one night," I yelled over the noise of the storm. "Seriously, not even monsters are going to come looking for us in this!"

Thalia was looking up at the sky, nervously. As she did, light shot through the dark rainclouds, and the sky seemed to thunder back at us.

"The gods are very, very angry," she said. I almost missed it in the din around us.

"All the more reason for us to not be in their way!" Luke spat.

Thalia didn't seem to be listening to us anymore. Her eyes were closed, her face titled up towards the rain, as if listening intently.

"But-" the rest of what Thalia said was lost to the rain and wind. She seemed to be arguing – her eyebrows were drawn together, and her hands had turned into fists at her sides. She finally opened her eyes, and cast a careful glance at Luke.

"You both really want to find some real shelter tonight?" She yelled over the rain.

"Yes!" Luke and I yelled back. Thalia bit her lip, and then shook her head.

I wondered what was behind her strange behavior. She clearly knew something neither Luke nor I did, but what that could be, I couldn't begin to guess.

"There's a couple of abandoned warehouses on the outskirts of a town about half an hour away," she called. "We can try and find some better shelter close by, or we can head straight into the town."

"Town," Luke said.

"Town," I added. With our luck, we would spend half the night wandering around in the rain before giving up and going into town anyway, if we could still find it.

Thalia bowed her head in resignation. I think I heard her curse, but I couldn't be sure. It sounded like ancient Greek.

She led our way as we stumbled through the dark woods by the light of a high-powered flashlight in Luke's bag. Thalia seemed to know where we were going, and I had to wonder about that – surely, she didn't have a three dimensional picture of the entire world in her head, and happened to know that there were abandoned warehouses nearby. She had spoken to someone, and that's how she knew where we were going.

Suddenly, I was wishing we hadn't decided to head into town. I didn't like this. It felt too much like a trap. Too much like I didn't understand what was going on.

Luke didn't seem to notice. His eyes were concentrated on the trees ahead; he couldn't wait until we got somewhere that was actually dry.

Against my better judgment, I decided to follow his example. We were going to be dry and warm within the hour, and we could wait out the storm. The warehouse was abandoned, so even if we got attacked, there would be no civilian casualties. Someone had told Thalia about these warehouses, but so what? It could just as easily have been her father, telling her to get out of the way so he could blast someone.  
The trees began to thin out around us, and the rain started hitting us in full force. We broke free of the line of trees, and ran straight for the dark shapes of buildings that rose up about thirty yards away, over an unused field. We made it under cover just as it began to hail. Pieces of ice the size of my fist started pounding the ground, bounding at least a foot in the air before settling.

"Your dad is seriously pissed," I said as Luke kicked the warehouse door open, breaking the rusting lock over the door.

"Yeah, what happened, did someone steal old thunders lighting?" Luke asked as we crowded into the warehouse.

By the light of the flashlight, I saw Thalias face go ashen. Her head snapped around to glare at Luke.

"Actually, yes," she said. "Someone has stolen my father's lightning bolt. _The _lightning bolt. The most powerful weapon of the gods."

There was something almost accusatory in her tone.

"Don't look at me," Luke said defensively. "I was just making a joke!"

"I know," Thalia said carefully. She glanced around the warehouse, using the light to illuminate the dark corners.

The bottom floor was completely empty, save a few rusted oil drums stacked in one corner. There was a stairwell that lead to a catwalk, where some pieces of machinery were stacked. I wondered what this place had been used to store.

"Zeus thinks he knows who stole it," Thalia continued. She paused for a moment before giving Luke the flashlight. "But he's wrong, isn't that right?"

The question was directed to someone at the back of the warehouse. Luke and I were suddenly on the alert. Luke's sword was in his hand as he backed away. The flashlight clattered to the ground, and the beam was sent scattering around the room as it rolled across the floor.

"Thalia, what is this?" Luke demanded as a figure untangled itself from the shadows at the back of the warehouse and stepped into the light of Luke's flashlight, now lying on its side.

The figure was tall, taller than a normal human should be, and every inch of his body was concealed in a dark cloak.

"I don't care what the fates said," Thalia said firmly. "They're wrong."

"You believe that the fates, them that foretold the fall of the titans when even Zeus did not believe he and his siblings could defeat their parents, them that spoke of the earth and the sky ere Uranus and Gaea ever were born, you believe them to be wrong, for the first time in all of history, here?" The figure asked, and he chuckled.

"Annabeth, Luke, I want you to run," Thalia said. Her voice was filled with iron control.

"I'm with you," Luke said.

"Luke, go!" Thalia yelled.

"Do you believe your friend cannot even resist temptation?" the figure asked, taking a step forward. The three of us, in unison, stepped back, trying to get as far away from this figure as we could. The storm and hail were sounding better every second.

"Thalia, what is he talking about?" Luke asked. "What have the Fates told you?"

"Power," the figure answered, taking another step forward.

"Run," Thalia said. Her voice was even, controlled.

The three of us broke into a run at the same time, but the door of the warehouse would not budge. It seemed to be coated in an impenetrable wall of shadow.

"The destruction of the gods," The figure said as I pounded on the door with all my might. Luke and Thalia turned, weapons drawn, to face the advancing figure. "The Fates have foretold that you, Luke Castellan, will lead the armies of Kronos against the Gods. You will be hereafter lauded and hailed as the destroyer of gods, the liberator of men, and the General of the titans. Immortal, invincible, and untouchable."

"Luke, I know you don't agree with the gods, but this isn't the answer!" Thalia said. Her control was breaking; she was really scared. I wondered what the Fates had shown her.

"I told you, I didn't steal the lightning bolt," Luke said, almost impatiently.

"Ah, but you will," the figure said. "Ares, the god of War, used one of his children to steal the lightning bolt. We want you to steal it from her, for us."

"Thalia, seriously, lets get out of here," I said. I didn't like this. Aside from the whole 'destroy the gods' speech, I was getting a seriously scary vibe from the guy in front of us. "I'd rather get my head bashed in by the hail than listen to this guy."

"You don't need to listen, you need to _see,_" the figure said.

I had a brief view of Luke and Thalia falling to the floor before I felt all control escape me, and I blacked out.

_Luke's face, every line etched with victory. His sword was dripping something gold – ichor, the blood of the gods. I felt my stomach turn._

_ He was standing in a circular chamber I had never seen, though I immediately knew what it was. The throne room of the gods._

_ "Luke!" that was my own voice. I saw myself run forward._

_ "Luke, stop this," I pleaded. "You can stop it, still! The gods will understand, you can still end this, and they'll be merciful-"_

_ "I do not want the mercy of your _Gods_!"_ _Luke shouted, his face contorting in anger. He brought his sword up, level with my heart. My expression changed from pleading to determined, and I brought my sword up to defend myself._

_ The battle was fast and one-sided. Luke smashed through my sword, cleaving it in two. He pinned me against the wall, and in a swift move, stabbed me. I _felt _the sword go through me, even in my dreamlike state. I watched my body crumple to the floor, a pile of blood and armor._

_ "My lord!" the voice of a young boy I didn't recognize. He ran into view, covered in blood and panting. "The battle has been won. The demigods have all been killed or captured, and the only god remaining fight a loosing battle against Kronos himself."_

_ Luke glanced at me before sheathing his sword._

_ "Then let us celebrate this day," he said, his features breaking out into an almost manic grin. _

I was still in the warehouse when I opened my eyes. Immediately, I knew I had been out only for a moment, for that hateful figure was still standing there.

"It will come to pass, whether any of you attempt to fight it," he said.

I pulled myself to my feet slowly, and glanced from Luke to Thalia. Neither of them could meet my eyes.

"That's what the fates showed you?" I asked Thalia. I took an uncertain step away from her and Luke.

"It will not happen," Thalia said calmly. "Luke may not like the gods, but he will not be the one to destroy them. Even the Fates may only see the future as it lays now, and it is never carved in stone."

"And yet Luke will still make the choice of his own free will to join Kronos," the figure said. He was standing right in front of us now.

"No, I won't," Luke said. "I control my own destiny. Find someone else to command your army."

"I will not kill you," he said, meeting my eyes.

I believed him.

We fought all the time. We argued and squabbled, and earlier that evening he had knocked me to the ground for insulting him, but I knew he would never kill me.

"How touching," the figure said. I realized then that backing away form Luke and Thalia had taken me closer to the figure. He was right behind me. He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind me. I cried out from the sudden pain.

"Annabeth, duck!" Thalia said. I bent in half, and Thalia swung her sword in a movement that would smoothly part his head from his shoulders. I heard it swoosh over my head like a helicopter blade.

The sword went straight _through _his neck, touching nothing. Thalia screamed and cropped her sword as it glowed red-hot. She clutched her hand, on which I could already see a brand of painful burns. She backed up against the wall, trying to get as far from him as she could.

"Let me make this very easy," the figure said, pulling me away from my friends. He held a dark knife to my throat – I felt it's serrated edge press against my skin. Luke started forward to help me, but the figure snapped his fingers, and shadowy black bonds formed around his body, holding him in place. "You will volunteer yourself to the service of Kronos, and steal the lightning bolt from the daughter of Ares, or your little friend will die," my captor said.

"Fuck you," Luke shot at him.

"Language, Luke," the figure said mockingly.

"Luke!" I said. I wasn't going to be the reason for the downfall of the gods. If my death was going to change the course of fate, then that's what needed to happen. "Don't listen to him!"

"Make your choice, demigod," my captor said, pressing the knife closer to my throat.

Luke closed his eyes, resigned.

"Let her go," he said finally.

"Luke, don't!" I yelled.

"You will swear yourself to the destruction of the gods?" The figure pressed, ignoring his captive.

"Thalia, do something!" I yelled.

I didn't see what she did next, because the figure threw me away from him, and I landed painfully on my side. There was a massive explosion – I felt the ground shake under me, and fire lick at my skin. The sound was deafening.

Someone was pulling me to my feet, and I was running, half blind, half deaf. I stumbled –urgent hands pulled me upright again.

I glanced up – fire was everywhere. Luke was leading me; he kicked at the door and it fell away, the shadows barring our way clearly gone. Luke lay me down outside in the rain – it had stopped hailing, blissfully – but he ran right back in. I stood, unsteadily. I heard Thalia scream, and I went back to help them, diving into the inferno.

Thalia and the figure were fighting, Thalia using the sword that Zeus had given her. It was bright with electricity. I don't know what she did, but when the sword came in contact with her dark opponent, it actually cut.

Luke was running towards her.

Time seemed to slow.

I mean, literally, time slowed down. It wasn't like in movies, when everything stops right before a catastrophe. I mean I was literally moving through jelly.

_Do not kill her._

I heard the voice in my mind. The speaker was so old, I could feel it in every word. Yet it seemed age had strengthened it, rather than weaken it.

Thalia yelled as the sword went through her. She fell, slowly.

_Idiot! _The voice yelled, and I felt the whole world tremble.

The figure looked up once, apprehensively, and then over at us.

And then he was gone. Luke and I could move freely. He ran to the spot Thalia had fallen, looking helpless, ignoring the fire licking. I had to tug at his arm to get his attention.

Things were moving again, much faster than they should have. We got Thalia outside. Luke stripped off his shirt to stem the bleeding. Thalia gasped, not yet dead, but close enough that nothing we did now would make a difference. Luke was crying, swearing, I was trying to help him stem the bleeding - there was so much blood, I couldn't understand how we could save her.

There was an explosion of light that forced Luke and I to shut out eyes against the bright light, brighter and clearer than the inferno that raged a few yards away. Zeus appeared out of the rain, radiating power. He knelt by his daughter, and cupped her face in his hands, seemingly ignoring Luke and I.

"Grigoreo, dynisomai," he said softly.

And then Thalia began to change. Her body twisted and grew taller, sprouting branches and leaves.

Zeus had turned Thalia into a tree.

"What did you do?" Luke howled.

"Peace, Luke," Zeus said. "She was already gone."

And then there was another flash of brilliant light, and we were left alone, by the tree that had once been Thalia.

We heard sirens in the distance, and more out of instinct than any real reaction to what was going on – everything felt unreal like this was a dream - we ran.

It had to be a dream. It had to be.

With no supplies, no weapons, and barely any clothes between us, we plunged back into the trees.

Later, they would say that a lightning bolt had hit the warehouse, igniting some unused stores of oil. They would have no idea how close that was to the truth, though I don't think they ever would have thought that the lightning hit the warehouse because the daughter of Zeus commanded it.

As we ran, I heard Luke sobbing.


	5. The Lightning Thief

Where the Wild Things Are: The Lightning Thief

**Hey guys! I'm really sorry I made you wait so long for an update! My mom and I took off to go climb some volcanoes for a couple of days, because we were on break and it seemed like a good idea. In reality, I'm bruised and sunburned all over, and our hotel didn't have internet. =(**

**Hopefully, you guys will forgive me because this chapter is so awesome?**

**Obviously, everything you recognize is the sole property of the original author. Everything new is my elaboration.**

**Enjoy!**

I heard the thunder rolling across the sky like war drums, and looked up apprehensively. The sky itself seemed to be sounding out a call to battle.

_Now why would you think that? _I asked myself, starting.

"Percy, come on!" Grover called from ahead, seeing me stop. "We need to get undercover before this rain gets any worse!"

We had been walking through the woods for about half an hour, ever since the taxi had dropped us off at a seemingly blank stretch of woods. It looked exactly the same as anywhere else we had passed, but Grover seemed to know exactly where we were going. It had started raining while we were in the cab, but it had been really pouring down since.

"How much further is it?" I asked, catching up to Grover. Even though I was right next to him, his reply was drowned out by an inhuman roar that shook the trees.

"Um, Grover," I said. Grover was looking positively terrified.

"What is that?"

My question was punctuated by a spout of fire that went rushing by right next to us.

We heard another inhuman, earthshaking roar, and ran for it.

"Its only just ahead, if we can beat the Hydra!" Grover said.

"Big if!" I yelled as I jumped out of the way of another gust of fire, pushing Grover with me. We landed roughly, only just missing a huge rock.

The Hydra came into view.

Six heads, all snakelike and vicious, struck at us. Grover and I rolled to avoid the snatching head, moving in opposite directions.

I searched around for anything I might be able to use as a weapon. All the rocks around me were either too large for me to lift, or too small to do any real damage. I dived out of the way of another burst of flame that left a massive charred circle right where I had been standing mere moments before.

I couldn't see Grover anymore, but I could see three heads twisted in his direction, cornering him. The other three were backing me against a tree. I was staring into three pairs of angry, monstrous eyes. I gulped, and shut my eyes. I could feel their breath on my face – it smelled stale and disgusting, like rotten eggs - brimstone and sulfur – and teeth that hadn't been brushed for ages.

And then the foul breath was gone, and the Hydra roared. I opened my eyes cautiously – there was a figure in full battle armor, stabbing the Hydra's chest over and over. The monster screamed as the blade cut through muscle and spilled black blood.

Then it lay still.

Hardly daring to believe it, I looked up, searching for Grover. He was looking just as shocked as I was.

"Whimp," I heard our savior mutter to the Hydra as it crumbled into dust. The figure removed their helmet and looked from me to Grover, and then back to me.

"Don't you even carry a sword?" She asked disdainfully.

The girl was built like a football – tall and muscled. Her armor looked like something I could have found in a history textbook on ancient Greece, not that I would have cared to look.

"I'm kind of new to this whole thing," I admitted shakily.

"Clearly," she said.

"Thanks for saving our lives," I added.

"No big deal," the girl said. "These monsters ain't so tough once you get to know them."

Remembering the six headed, fire-breathing hydra, I had to disagree. Not that I was planning on doing it to the girl's face – she was big, burly, and looked like she would put a dent in a truckers car just to go looking for the fight.

"I'm Clarisse, for what it's worth," she said. "Daughter of Ares, god of war."

"I'm Percy," I said. "And that's Grover."

Clarisse looked me up and down again, and snorted. She drew a huge broadsword from a sheath somewhere on her back, and slammed it into the ground, point first, in front of me.

"Against my better judgment, I'm giving you a sword," Clarisse said. "You don't look like you'll last more than a minute, but you'll have a better chance than you would unarmed."

"Thanks," I said. I put my handle on the sword, and pulled it out of the ground, immediately surprised by the weight. I heard Clarisse make an exasperated noise. She stepped forward and corrected my grip.

"Sword fighting is about control and strategy," she said. "Or, if you prefer, knowing where and when to hit, and being able to hit. Practice makes perfect and all that."

I looked down at the weapon in my hand, weighting it uncertainly. I sincerely doubted that I was able to actually kill a monster with anything less than sheer dumb luck.

"Look, kid, don't get yourself killed, okay?" Clarisse asked. "There aren't enough of us, and the gods sure as hell aren't going to be the ones to protect us."

"Is it like this for everyone?" I asked desperately. "Always moving from place to place, always fighting? Don't any demigods have normal lives?"

"Some do," Clarisse said. "The ones that are lucky enough to have more of their mortal parent than their immortal one. The kids of Aphrodite do reasonably well living normal lives too. And then some of us attract every monster between Olympus and the Underworld."

I sagged under that weight. I didn't want that life. I might not have had any promise anywhere else, but an existence based almost entirely off of traveling and fighting just seemed so… sad to me. Maybe, when I was a kid, there was a time when I had wished as hard as I could that there was a reason I was such a screw up. I imagined myself becoming a great hero in battle.

That dream lasted about as long as any of my other eight-year-old fantasies did. I _was _a screw-up, and I couldn't even pass gym.

"Grigoreo, Dynisomai," Clarisse said, patting my shoulder. I felt the weight of a blessing that was as old as time. _Be strong, be watchful, be able. _I didn't know how I knew what it meant, but I did. "Look after yourself."

And then she was gone.

I hefted the sword in my hand experimentally. The girl must have had incredible muscles, because I could hardly move the thing in an arc without loosing control.

I put the sword down, wondering if this all wasn't some whacky dream I was about to wake up from. I pinched myself experimentally. I was still in the woods when I opened my eyes, so I guessed I was awake. And this nightmare was real.

I missed my mom.

Bitterly, I picked up the sword again. Even if I _was _a weakling, even if it was basically a sharp club in my hands, it was better than nothing. It made me feel better to know that I was armed. Because I had no idea what was coming, and having a weapon in my hand – even one I knew I could barely use effectively - was at least a little comforting.

A scream rent the night, cutting through the silence like a knife, coming from the direction Clarisse had gone.

Instinct told me to run away, to hide – but another part of me drove me towards the source of the scream. Grover yelled something as I dashed through the trees.

"Wait here, I'll be back!" I yelled back.

Clarisse was fighting with a tall, dark figure. The man was wearing a dark cloak, but the hood had fallen back to reveal a face that looked like it could have been formed out of shadows – it was black as the night, with glowing red circles where his eyes should be.

Neither of the duelers noticed my arrival in the clearing. I watched transfixed, frozen in place, as the man mercilessly attacked Clarisse, forcing her to go on the defensive. She dodged a blow that would have severed her arm from her shoulder, and his blade landed in a nearby tree instead.

The momentary respite that move earned her, however, didn't seem to help. The man renewed his attack, driving Clarisse back. With a twist, he wrenched her blade from her hand.

"Did you think to defeat the son of Erebus, lord of darkness and shadow?" he asked softly. "My father was a nightmare ere earth and sky ever came into being – ere Nemesis ordered balance, ere Charon was born the ferry the dead. Did you think to cross blades with me, lightning thief?" his voice had a mocking lilt to it, his sword lingering around Clarisse's collarbone.

"I thought to fight you and die honorably if I lost, not be bored to death," Clarisse taunted boldly.

I was already running forward when the full impact of what Clarisse's attacker had said, and by then, my momentum had already carried me into him. We collided, sending the man sprawling.

He was back on his feet in seconds, surprise melting into rage on his face.

I felt my arms and legs snap towards my body, and I looked down to see what looked like black ropes binding me in place. I struggled against them, to no avail – they wouldn't budge.

I looked over to see that Clarisse was similarly bound next to me, glaring at me with a look that clearly said _nice going. _I glared back. _Clarisse _had stolen the lightning bolt, and made it look like it had been my fault. That was the reason the Hydra had come after my mom and I only that morning, why I had to fight off the Minotaur and run for my life outside my apartment.

The man was laughing. The sound chilled my blood.

"This is too good!" he said, finally catching his breath. "The son of Poseidon saving the girl who set him up!"

He bent down and picked up Clarisse's pack.

"Thank you for stealing this for me," he said mockingly.

"Go to Hades," Clarisse growled.

"I wonder, Percy Jackson, what will Zeus do once he believes that you have delivered the lightning bolt to the enemies of the gods?" The man asked me conspiratorially. "I don't think he intends to kill you at this point, to be honest. That would be far to easy a way for you to escape punishment."

I tried not to let the words get to me. But I was scared as hell.

"And what will the gods do, I wonder, when they discover that I don't know anything about where the lightning bolt is?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.

"I wouldn't count on them caring much whether or not you know anything, son of Poseidon," the man said. He could have been commenting on the weather. "It really would be a tragedy if the gods were to find you now, wouldn't it? No lightning bolt, no proof you _didn't _steal it… I'd say you're in a bit of a rough spot."

"Please, just let me give the lightning bolt back!" I yelled desperately. The man looked for a moment as if seriously considering my request.

"Somehow, I don't think I will," he said, a malicious glint in his glowing red eyes. "In fact, I think a little fun to distract the two of you and the gods for a while is in order."

"What are you going to do?" Clarisse asked.

"I'm going to hand young Percy over here to the gods, daughter of Ares," he said. "You'll get to leave free and clear like you intended, and another will take your place and your blame in the court of the gods. It will be exactly what you wanted."

"What harm does it do to just let us both go?" Clarisse demanded.

"By giving the gods a solid distraction, the gathering of my masters army will continue unnoticed, by the gods, as they turn their full attention to the question of Perseus Jackson. It also ensures that Percy will remain alive, because the gods will not be quick in their justice."

I didn't like the way that he assured Clarisse that I would remain alive. I couldn't let myself be found by the gods, clearly, not before I could get the lightning bolt and return it to Zeus. I looked at the pack, perhaps five feet away from me, in the mans hand. It might have been an eternity, for all the good it would do.

"Have a nice night, demigods," he said, stepping backwards. I cried out as he vanished into a cloud of dark smoke. Seconds later, I felt the bonds holding me disappear.

"Run," Clarisse said, her voice deadly quiet. I stayed where I was, torn between running for my life, and attempting to kill the girl that had ruined my life.

"You don't want to be here when the gods come!" Clarisse said. "He'll have tipped them off as to where you are. Run!"

I hesitated for another second, remembering Grover. I hoped he had the good sense to stay out of the way. I prayed he would be okay. I took off running into the trees.

As I ran, I became aware once again of the rain. The excitement with the Hydra and meeting another demigod had driven all thoughts of the weather and my soaking clothes out of my mind. But now I felt the rain pouring down, and I heard the ominously cracking thunder. The mud seemed determined to send me sprawling. I couldn't afford to fall.

I could hardly see where I was going – it was pitch black under the canopy of trees.

I heard the sound of shouting voices behind me, and the call of a horn.

The hunt had begun.

I tried to speed up, but I was running as fast as I ever had in my life, my breath coming in heaving gasps. Running a mile lap on a flat courtyard was way easier than running the same distance over broken and soggy ground in a storm. Trees seemed to appear out of nowhere, dragging at my clothes and skin.

An arrow thudded into a tree next to me as I dodged passed.

"Halt in the name of the gods of Olympus, lightning thief!" it was the voice of a young woman, little more than a girl.

I didn't stop. I slid a few steps in the mud and regained my balance, my lungs burning from the effort of keeping going.

Another arrow whizzed past my head, vanishing into the darkness.

"The next one goes in your leg if you don't stop!" the female voice yelled. It sounded even closer than it had been.

I knew I was finished. It was a miracle that I had made it this far, I knew. And I didn't doubt the accuracy of the archer that was shooting at me. I didn't have anything left to keep running either. I stopped, turning to face my fate.

"Hands where I can see them, demigod!" the voice yelled again.

A girl that looked little older than I was emerged from the trees, illuminated by torches carried by young girls on either side of her. She was carrying a silver bow, and she had an arrow notched and aimed at me.

I saw girls emerging from the trees all around me, surrounding me. They were all armed.

"No one outruns the Huntresses of Artemis," the girl in front of me said.

_Artemis. _

The twelve-year-old girl in front of me was Artemis.

"Zoe, bind his hands," Artemis ordered. To me, she added, "if you try and fight, we will shoot."

I didn't doubt it. I stood as still as I could while one of the Huntresses tied my hands behind my back.

"I didn't steal the lightning bolt," I knew it was useless, but I had to say it. Artemis didn't even answer. She grabbed my arm and pulled me forward.

"Close your eyes," she ordered. I obeyed.

I felt a painful tugging sensation, and the world turned upside down for a moment. And then everything shifted, and I felt the world go right again.

I opened my eyes, and immediately wished I hadn't.

I was in a large circular room, surrounded by twelve thrones.

I was in the court of the gods on Olympus. This was unreal. I would have been freaking out with excitement under any normal circumstances. But the grim faces of the gods reminded me that I was here because the gods thought I had stolen the most powerful weapon ever made.

"I had to chase him about two miles through the woods south of long island sound," Artemis explained, probably in answer to the question gazes about why she was covered in mud.

"Thank you, Artemis," the voice was that of Zeus. I didn't see the speaker, but I could _feel _the power and command in his words.

I dared a glance upward. In front of me, I saw two gods who could only have been Zeus and Hera. And to Zeus' right, sat Poseidon.

My breath caught in my throat, and I had to look down again. Poseidon looked like a beach comber collided with a fisherman. He was wearing swimming trunks and flip flops, and he was holding a fishing rod in one hand.

What made me look away was the absolute anger that was sparking in his face. Even though he had abandoned me before I was born, I had harbored some secret hope that he might be able to help me. But there was nothing but anger there.

"Percy Jackson, where is my lightning bolt?" Zeus asked.

"I don't know," I said. It took all my courage to look up into his face as I spoke.

"Come now Percy, do not make this more difficult for yourself," Zeus said. "Tell me where my lightning bolt is, and your death with be swift and painless."

I clenched my hands into fists behind my back.

"I don't know where the lightning bolt is," I said.

"Why did you steal it?"

"I didn't!" I protested. My voice came out a lot higher than I meant it to, but I was beyond caring.

"Assuming I believe you, which I do not," Zeus began. "Who did steal the bolt, if not you?"

"I-"

I faltered. I had been about to call Clarisse on what she had done, but I couldn't. I didn't owe her anything, I knew. If our positions were reversed, she would have no problem selling me out. But I also knew that if our positions had been reversed, and my father had asked me to steal the bolt, I would have. Her father deserved the blame for the theft, though he would receive none, and Clarisse would take the brunt of Zeus' anger. And that wasn't fair.

"I don't know," I said. The words sounded hollow and false, even to me.

"Did your father ask you to steal it?" Zeus asked. I saw Poseidon stir in his throne out of the corner of my eye.

"I have no connection to Poseidon," I said, not even looking at the god of the sea. "He never asked me to take the bolt, and I didn't steal it."

"You have said that," Zeus said. "And I don't believe you."

The words fell with the weight of stone.

"Clearly the boy knows something he is not telling us," one of the goddesses broke in. "But that doesn't mean that he stole the lightning bolt. Do not be so quick to lay blame and make war," she warned.

"Athena, he is very clearly guilty," Zeus said calmly.

"Perhaps he is, perhaps he isn't," Athena said. "But haste will only bring false results."

"And while we wait, my brother amasses his armies to make war against me!" Zeus said.

"I have no wish to see us at war," Poseidon snapped.

"Yet you commissioned your son to steal my most powerful weapon?" Zeus asked. "You have already proved that you cannot be held to your oaths – this boy is proof of that!"

"And yet I did not tell him to steal the bolt," Poseidon said. "Such thievery does not suit a son of the sea. If my son stole it, it was not on my command. And if he did steal it, he is no son of mine."

Zeus seemed to swell, and I thought for a moment he might strike Poseidon, but then he nodded, seemingly placated.

"Very well," he said, seeming to come to a decision. "Percy, you will tell me where my lightning bolt is or I shall have the information from you by force."

I gulped.

"I don't know anything!" I yelled desperately. "This is crazy! Until I ran into that giant bull out of my house, I didn't even know about any of this!"

"Enough of this," Zeus growled. "Artemis, step away from him."

The goddess left my side, and I was left standing alone.

"I will ask you one last time to tell me where my lightning bolt is," Zeus warned.

"I. Don't. Know." I said each word slowly and clearly. I knew Zeus wouldn't believe me, but I wasn't going to confess to something I hadn't done.

The lightning hit me without preamble, without warning. The pain made my legs buckle. I fell to the ground, writing as the lightning made my muscles contract painfully.

And then the pain was gone. I was left panting on the floor.

"Where is the lightning bolt?"

"I don't know!" I yelled. I think I might have been crying, but I was beyond caring. "I didn't steal it!"

The pain hit me again, harder than before. I writhed on the ground for what felt like an eternity before Zeus released me.

I didn't say anything when Zeus asked me again to tell him where the bolt was. I knew it was only a matter of time before I gave up Clarisse. Clearly, Zeus didn't believe, and none of the gods were going to stand up for me. I was on my own.

This time, when Zeus threw lightning at me, I was ready. I rolled out of the way, just barely missing the lightning.

I felt the ground underneath me shaking as I tried to pull myself to my feet. I slipped twice in the water that was pooling around me –

_Water?_

I looked around, and saw the whole room was filling with fresh seawater. I could smell the ocean in it.

"Poseidon, control your son!" Zeus roared. The gods were on their feet, keeping an uncertain distance from me.

The water started to calm.

_No! _I thought.

The water shot up into the sky, shattering pillars and walls.

I ran.

The shouts of the gods followed me down an old road. I felt like I was in ancient Greece – the view around me arrested me for a moment, and then I remembered that I was now a fugitive. As I ran past, fountains and pools exploded, drawing shrieks from the divine figures nearby.

I kept doing, determined to make it to the exit. A golden archway, at the end of the road looked like a promising bet. The inside looked like an elevator.

It _was _an elevator, I discovered to some surprise. I jumped in and pressed the bottom button with my foot, my hands still tied behind me.

The doors closed, leaving me with a fleeting view of mount Olympus bursting into fountains of water that rocketed into the air.


	6. The Unexpected Guest

Where the Wild Things Are – Unexpected Guests

**Hey guys! Twice in one day, what do you think of that? Am I on a roll or what? Anyway, I'm returning to school soon, so my updating may slow down, which is why I'm doing as much as I can now, to forestall the writers flood that will grip me as soon as I step into maths and the teacher bores my brains out.**

**Anyway, here is the next chapter of Where the Wild Things Are, brought to us by none other than Bianca!**

**By the by: This story has had 159 hits, and 55 visitors. Today. Aside from the wow factor that so many people read this story, I'm kind of disappointed I don't get more feedback. I write these stories for you guys as well as myself, and I want to hear what you think of them: how to make them better, how to change, what am I doing right… I don't bite, I promise!**

**Ah well. I'm not Rick Riordan, you know the drill.**

**Enjoy!**

_Blood surrounds me, swirling around my waist like a river. Deep and crimson, I can smell death in the air. All around me, the air is wracked by moans of pain and despair, the cries of the wounded and dying. _

_ I can see a shore to this ocean of blood, not far away, but as I begin to move towards it, it grows ever further away, and the blood rises ever higher, encircling my torso, my shoulders, until I am truly swimming, the ground dropping away below me. As the shore begins to vanish, I feel frantic hands tugging at my clothing, dragging me down, pulling me under. My lungs are filled with deep crimson, and I try to cough it out of my system, but to no avail. Even underwater, I hear the screams of those that I knew are dead, taking their vengeance, grabbing at me like I have done them personal wrong-_

I awoke covered in sweat, a hand clamped over my mouth. I was tangled in sheets, which explained why I thought I was being grabbed. Stupid.

I glanced over to Nico, checking to make sure I had not woken him. He was quietly sleeping. He looked so peaceful, a lock of wayward black hair hanging over his nose. It moved ever so slightly as he inhaled and exhaled in his sleep. I smiled, and tucked the hair back in place for him.

I watched him breathing deeply and peacefully, dreaming, yet I knew his dreams were far from peaceful. I knew he was still haunted by what he could not remember about our past, and upset by the fact that neither of us had any answers for the future.

I worried too. But I was also older. I could defend myself, at least in a pinch. But I had no way of ensuring my brothers safety. And the future I was doomed to, that wasn't a future I wished for Nico.

I worried also about the prophecy Charon had described. I worried because I had come to no resolution, and my mind was still unsettled. I worried because if the prophecy referred to either one of us, we either going to destroy the gods, or strengthen them. And I didn't know which one was worse anymore.

I worried because morality was blurring for me. I feared I could not distinguish between right and wrong anymore. Were the gods right? Did respecting them demand unquestioned obedience? Could one be moral, and still be disobedient to the gods?

All questions I had no answers for.

Suddenly, I felt a shift in the air.

I couldn't describe exactly what had changed, but the air felt… _different _somehow. And then I heard the soft breathing. There was someone else in the room with us.

I reached slowly for the dagger strapped to my wrist, and I pulled it out, taking acre to move as little as possible. I heard footsteps, soft as a cats, yet still very much _there _pausing at the side of the bed, and I turned, slashing with the dagger.

The intruder caught my arm and twisted it smoothly, and the dagger fell soundlessly to the bed.

"We wouldn't want to wake your brother, now would we?" I identified the voice as male and stiffened.

"What do you want?" I demanded, quietly as I could. Whatever was about to happen, I didn't want Nico to have any part in it. Not if blood was meant to be shed tonight.

"Come for a walk with me, Bianca," the voice said. "I think we have much to discuss."

I stood uncertainly, feeling vulnerable. The intruder picked up my knife and handed it back to me.

"A sign of good faith," he said simply. I took it and placed it back in the sheath at my wrist. The intruder indicated for me to go first, so I pulled open the door to the hotel room, and walked out into the richly decorated hall. There was a rich white carpet, and the walls were a pale shade of blue, decorated with paintings of ocean scenes.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Just down to the courtyard, where we can talk," came the ambiguous answer.

When we had gotten downstairs, I turned to face the man that had broken into the hotel room.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" I demanded. His face was still hidden in the shadow of a dark cowl. He drew back the hood, and I stopped, arrested.

Arrested because I knew now that Nico looked _exactly _like his father. To the very structure of his bones.

And there was no doubt, looking at this man, who he was.

"Hello Hades," I said, my voice guarded.

"Is this all the reception your long lost father receives when he comes to pay you a visit?" the god of the Underworld asked, mock incredulity in his voice.

"Emphasis on long," I said carefully. "You know, Nico doesn't remember you at all. Or our mother. Our time in that stupid casino screwed with his head. He didn't even remember that he could play an instrument!" I hissed. I hadn't realized until the moment just _how _angry with my father I was. I hadn't realized that I blamed Nico's torment on the man who had abandoned us in Las Vegas until he was standing in front of me.

Hades bowed his head, in a gesture of genuine apology.

"For that, I am truly sorry," he said. "It was… necessary on my part, to protect the both of you."

"To protect us by wiping Nico's memories?" I demanded.

"That was not the intention," Hades defended himself. "Those who stay at the Lotus Casino do not age while they remain there. My hope was for you to start a new life, one that wasn't hunted by the gods, and monsters. And then my brothers forged a ridiculous pact not to seduce mortal women, which they both failed to uphold. Yet they hold me to a higher standard. They would declare war upon me if given the chance. So I kept you there, watching as time passed. The danger, especially for you Bianca, could not be higher at this moment. But I could not take you away from your lives any longer."

As we walked around a corner, passing a couple on a moonlit romantic stroll in complete silence, part of what Hades had said hit me.

"So Zeus has a child then?" I asked.

"Had," Hades confirmed my earlier theory. "She was killed in a confrontation. I do not know the details – but now you are the oldest child that fits the description of the prophecy. If it does in fact refer to you, the fate of the gods may rise or fall on your shoulders."

My breath hitched in my throat. I wasn't even sure _what _I wanted for the gods; how could I be ready to face that decision, three mere years from now?

"And what if," I asked quietly. "What if I chose not to accept that fate?"

"You mean to take your own life?" Hades voice was curious, but not upset. I shook my head.

"What if I were to become a huntress, place myself beyond the reach of time, and thus never turn sixteen?" for the first time since the idea had popped into my head did I voice it out loud. I saw surprise flicker over my fathers face, but his features smoothed into their blank mask once again.

"That is your decision to make," he said. "It is not the one I would advise."

I looked down, unsure how to respond to that.

"And what of Nico?" I asked. "Why not speak to him? He's afraid, scared out of his mind because he never knows what is going on."

"Nico needs to learn patience, and gather his own strength, as you have," Hades said. "You mother him."

"That's because you took his mother from him," I accused him.

"ZEUS took his mother from him!" Hades roared. I stepped back in fear, but Hades seemed to regain control of himself as quickly as he had lost it.

"And what of the lightning bolt?" I asked. "Has it been returned?"

"Zeus had Artemis capture the son of Poseidon," Hades shrugged. "The boy insisted he knew nothing before blowing up half of Olympus. The full force of the gods is attempting to locate him now, but it seems clear that he does not have the bolt, whether or not he did in fact steal it."

"So where do you think it is now?" I asked.

"In the hands of the enemies of the gods, those that would see us destroyed," Hades said, his voice matter-of-fact. "I fear Athena is wise in her caution that there is a doom gathering on the horizon, soon to break over us all. War will be upon us if Zeus does not reclaim his bolt, and it will be on us if we must face these nameless and faceless enemies we know exist and can yet never find."

I shivered. The night suddenly seemed much colder. I remembered by dream, swimming in a river of blood. Was this what would happen if I failed to do my task?

I looked up at my father, and I felt something, stir in my heart.

"Whatever I can do to aid you father, ask," I said. "I will fight alongside you should it come to war," I swore.

My father looked down on me with an expression glowing with pride. He stroked a lock of my hair – the same exact dark shade of his own, and smiled.

"For now Bianca, care for your brother as you have, but be mindful that he must grow as a person independently as well," Hades said. "Listen to your emotions, but do not allow them to dictate your actions. Do not allow your blade to ever dull. And work on your reaction time," he added the last as a teasing addendum. "It was much to easy to disarm you."

"I had two more knives hidden on my person that I would have gone for had you proven hostile," I defended myself. My father chuckled as we approached the door to my hotel room and I fished the card key out of my pocket.

"Will you not come in to speak to Nico?" I asked, seeing that he intended to remain in the hall when I opened the door.

Hades hesitated, and then followed me back into the room.

For the first time that I can remember, my father tucked me into bed, and sang me to sleep.

Nico twitched in his dreams, and rolled over, but he did not wake. Hades continued to sing, a soft, happy song, though I could understand none of the words. I felt familiar, like an old lullaby.

I fell asleep to the sound of soft music.

The sun was shining brightly when I opened my eyes, and Nico was already awake.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked. Nico smiled.

"Better than I ever have," he answered.

I felt a tug at my heart, remembering that our father had come last night. He had traded words with me, answering my many questions, and giving me news of what was going on, but he had said not even a word to my brother. I didn't understand it. I decided then not to tell Nico that our father had come. It would only hurt him to know the truth.

"We're leaving," I said abruptly. Nico looked up at me from the window, where he had been sitting, reading.

"What? When?" he demanded.

"Soon," I said, joining him by the window. "I have a bad feeling that something big is about to happen, and I want us to be out there if we can."

"But where will we go?" Nico asked.

For a moment, the question stumped me. But it didn't take long for me to recover myself.

"New York," I said. "Center of the universe – metropolis of culture and music. We're going to find you a real instrument. Charon left us plenty of cash."

Nico's face glowed with happiness. It had been a long time since I had seen him this happy.

"I think we should leave tonight, tomorrow at the latest," I added. Nico nodded in agreement – like me, he had been feeling cooped up and helpless in this tiny hotel room. We both wanted out.

It was only when we were leaving the hotel that I remembered something.

"Nico, if we should meet any demigods, or immortal creatures, you must not tell them who our father is," I told him as we stepped into the street. "We must lie, and say that we do not know. It is not safe for us to travel with our father's name."

"Because of the prophecy," Nico finished for me wisely. I nodded.

"Exactly. Anyone who meets us could be an enemy if they learn that Hades is our father. So we must be silent and we must keep it a secret."

Nico smiled happily. I knew I didn't need to fear he would accidentally let something slip – he was old for his years. And yet, I was still nervous. What if we were separated?

I forced myself not to think of the many horrible hypothetical that occurred to me. I knew it would only serve to torture me.

Instead, I thought of the long road we had ahead, and grimly set myself to the task of guiding myself and my brother from Las Vegas to New York City, which was going to be a difficult one, even without gods or monsters on our trail. As far as I could tell, the divine world was generally unaware of our existence. I wanted to keep it that way.

There are no gods of peace in the Greek pantheon. So I prayed instead to Athena, that she might calm the situation on Olympus, and bring the attention of the gods to the bigger problem of their unknown enemies, rather than have them waste their time in meaningless squabbles.

I wondered if she heard me, yet I knew it did not matter. Even if peace was reestablished between the gods, it would be only the calm before the storm – the deep breath before a dangerous plunge.

I remembered what my father had said last night, and I shivered again, despite the warm desert air.

There were dark days on the horizon, bearing doom to us all.


	7. My Decision

Where the Wild Things Are – My Decision

**Here is the next chapter for Where the Wild Things Are, following Luke.**

**Does destiny always have its way? Can Luke escape the fate that the son of Erebus showed him and Annabeth?**

No.

I refused to believe it.

I refused to believe that Thalia could possibly be dead. We dealt with death on a regular basis; we placed each others lives in each others hands every day, and we had seen countless of demigods die. I was no stranger to death.

But Thalia was the sister of my soul. We had had plenty of close calls, and near-misses, and they had only served our joined and deeply ingrained opinion that we were both invincible. We had laughed in the face of death together.

Yet here I was, running for my life, leaving her dead and transformed body behind.

Did we even have a chance? The enemies of the gods were very strong. I doubted that they would remain standing for long, if the brunt of their force attacked. And any demigods that stood in their way would be dead. Heroics were one thing, but my mind's eye was showing me how deadly the end battle could be.

Did I even _want _to defend the gods? After all they had done, after all the demigods I had seen die without any knowledge of who their parents really were, or what was actually going on. The gods had ignored their mortal offspring, and we were attacked and executed with an almost bureaucratic efficiency.

They had ignored us, and they were completely irresponsible with their power.

I remembered reading a story entitled _A Knight's Tale _when Thalia had insisted that we stop at a library. It was a tale of two knights who fought each other to the death for the hand of a woman neither of them had ever even met, all for the pleasure of Aphrodite. On the eve of the final battle that took place between them, each prayed for their victory, one to Aphrodite, and one to Ares. The one that had prayed to Ares won the fight, but Aphrodite asked Zeus to intervene, and he caused an earthquake that killed the victor and let the one that had prayed to Aphrodite win.

Two images from that story had stuck with me. The first was that of the two characters, Palamon and Arcite, cousins close enough to be brothers, hacking at each other like wild beasts.

The second was the sense of inevitability that filled the whole story. The idea that Palamon and Arcite could take any course they wished, but fate would guide them on the patterns that the gods had set for them. And if the gods want them to fight to the death so that they could have sex with a beautiful woman because the gods thought it would be entertaining, then they should definitely go do that.

I remembered another line speaking about Cupid, from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

_And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind._

_Nor hath Love's mind of any judgment taste;_

_Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste._

_And therefore is Love said to be a child,_

_Because in choice he is so oft beguiled._

It was a line that had stuck with me even though the rest of the play had been mostly incomprehensible. It was everything that was wrong with the gods: They were blind in their justice, and took no sense in anything they did. Our lives were a game to them, playing with our fates nothing more than sport to liven their boredom when they didn't want to come down to earth to seduce a mortal.

They acted irresponsibly, as children.

These were not the figures that deserved to rule our fate. The fate on man belonged in mans' own hand.

_My _fate, which had for so long been out of my control, would from this moment on be solely in my hands.

I would organize the fall of the gods. I would join their enemies and ensure that we could take back our own fate. After all, as a demigod, was I not in the perfect position to do that? I was a creature that lived in both the moral and immortal world – both could hurt me, but I could also change both.

I made my decision. Perhaps I had known my path before even thinking it through, but I was sure now. I would destroy the gods. And when we conquered the gods, perhaps I could bargain with Hades. He could bring Thalia back. The gods were responsible for her death, so it was only fitting that I destroy them to get her back.

I stopped. Annabeth ran a few steps before realizing I wasn't next to her, and doubled back to stand beside me.

"Luke?" she asked uncertainly.

My mind jumped to the image of Annabeth falling, pierced by my own sword…

I felt sick. I knew that no matter what happened now, I had to protect Annabeth. She could not die, not by my blade, and not by another.

"Annabeth, I want you to come with me," I said. "I want you to come with me to get Thalia back, and to get back at the gods."

I became acutely aware of the rain and the storm and the fact that I was half naked. I felt the rain pounding on my skin, and I shivered. The look of horror that Annabeth gave me made me shiver even further. She stepped away from me as if I was some kind of monster.

_I _was the monster? How could that be, when it was the gods that had killed Thalia! Surely, even though Annabeth had not known her for as long as I had, she mourned her death almost as much as I? They had been friends- both Annabeth and Thalia had genuinely liked each other; I had seen it.

"Luke, don't do this," she said. "You can't let him get to you! You must not let the Fates dictate what you will do!"

_You can't kill me, _was the unspoken outrage in her voice.

"Annabeth, come with me," I repeated, taking her hands reassuringly. She shirked away from my touch, but I pressed on. "The gods are irresponsible. They do not care, not only for us, but for men as a whole. They play with our lives for their entertainment. You must see this! The gods are children. They are despotic and tyrannical rulers, and we must take responsibility for our own fates."

"Your words are heresy," Annabeth whispered. I barely heard her over the sound of the rain.

"Then I brand myself a godless heretic, and may I stand gladly for that crime, when the gods have fallen," I snapped. "I will usher in a glorious golden age of _men, _in which we may control our own destinies. And I want you beside me, because I will not watch you die. We're too old for such fairy tales."

I met her eyes, and put all of my heart and soul into my next words, because she _had _to understand this: "I told you before, and I am telling you now, I will not kill you. I do not want us to be enemies."

Annabeth held my gaze for a second. For one glorious second, my heart soared, thinking that perhaps she would follow me.

"You have chosen your side then," she said coldly. "As I have chosen mine. The next time we meet, Luke, I will kill you, even if you cannot find the courage to raise your own blade."

I stepped back, stunned, releasing her hands. It was Annabeth who stepped forward – there were tears mingling with the rain on her face.

What she did next was something I could have never seen coming.

She kissed me.

When she drew back, her face was very red – as I'm sure mine was – but her eyes hardened.

"I'm sorry Luke," she said. "Please – reconsider your choices?"

I shook my head. I could not go crawling to the gods.

Annabeth bit her lip, and then she turned. Before I could follow, she was gone, vanishing into the rain.

I pressed a hand to my lips, holding the memory of her lips there, unsure was I was feeling.

I walked alone among the trees for a very long time. The rain pounded on the trees and ground around me. I was soaked to the bone, and I didn't care.

I had made my decision.

But I also knew I would not join Kronos and his evil servant. I would not join with Thalia's killers, even if our goals were one.

My rebellion would be my own.

I let the rain wash the memories of the past night away. When it finally began to recede, and the pounding storm was reduced to a light drizzle, I had been wandering for hours. But I wasn't tired – in fact I felt energized, full of power.

Whether my choice was one that would lead to the fate I had been shown in that empty warehouse wasn't something I dared contemplate. The gods would fall by my plans, but Annabeth would not. I knew I had to protect her.

_The next one will survive, _Thalia had said. I remembered thinking that the next demigod we came across _had _to survive.

Annabeth _had _to survive. I would make sure of it.

I didn't notice when it stopped raining, but I felt the warmth of the first rays of sunlight, and I looked up to see the clouds beginning to thin and disperse.

It was a new day.

I walked for sometime longer on my own. Never had I been more aware of how vulnerable I was – I had no food and no clothing, and I was sure that Annabeth would tell the gods of my plans the first chance she got.

_Annabeth._

I had stopped for a breath, but the second her name popped into my head, I forced myself to keep going.

The day was clear and cloudless, the sun shining through as though there had never been a storm to begin with. It warmed everything it touched, and I welcomed its embrace.

It was a clear day, a day for new starts and new plans. Spring was clearly well on its way now, and the world was beginning to renew itself. There would be a new age dawning with the new year.

An age of freedom.

I turned my mind to my plans, not knowing that another fugitive from the fury of the gods was barely a mile away from where I stood now, trying to figure out the best way to come into contact with the enemies of the gods, but for a very different reason.


	8. Running

Where the Wild Things Are – Running

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter for Where the Wild Things Are! I think its about time we know how Percy was faring, since we last left him running for his life after destroying Olympus [which was probably not the best way to prove his innocence, as I'm sure he'll realize in retrospect]. **

**Sorry for the long wait… You guys must hate me. I just go caught up in AP's, SATs, and Operation: Red Crescent, which is shaping up really well…**

**Everything you recognize still belongs to its original author, and everything else is still my own original work.**

**Enjoy!**

I stared as I exited the elevator.

I was in the empire state building.

Olympus was at the top of the empire state building.

For a second I stood there numbly, fighting between wanting to laugh and plain shock – well, shock combined with a growing horror of the fact that _I had fucking destroyed Olympus. _A giggle burst through my lips. I'm sure I looked like a perfect idiot, standing in the empire state building, giggling like some crazy person. But the second that sobering thought burst into my head, I forced myself to run for it.

I may have made it off Olympus, but I was by no means safe. As I had seen, the gods could appear and disappear at will. I had no doubt that as soon as the water fountain upstairs was quelled, they'd be on my track again.

I burst through the doors of the empire state building, leaving a resounding chorus of angry exclamations behind me. I didn't care. I pushed on through the crowd, making my way through the pedestrian traffic. The buildings crowded with lights and advertisements around me turned the night – or what must have been at least the early morning – into bright electric day.

I couldn't risk the gods catching me again. I just hoped that they would be too busy dealing with the fact that Olympus was now a salt-water fountain to come after me for a little while.

I had to wonder about what had happened up there too. I had felt the water begin to recede under my fathers' orders, but I had overridden them, and the water had risen up again. Had my father let me escape, or was I actually more powerful than he was? I had to wonder exactly what my father's feelings towards me were. When he had spoken to Zeus, it sounded like he believed as much was Zeus did that I had stolen the lightning bolt, and hated me for it. But could that have been an act?

I had to time to ponder that, however. I found what I was looking for – the entrance to a subway station. My metro card was still in my pocket (how long ago it seemed it had been since I had last used it, though I was pretty sure I had only used the card that morning), and the Subway would carry me away from the home of the gods.

I sat down, catching my breath. The compartment was almost empty, except for a few commuters, and a homeless guy at the far end. I settled in for a long ride.

Several stops later, the subway doors opened, and a teenage girl walked in and sat down right across from me. She looked worn and exhausted. Her blonde hair was tied up into a messy ponytail behind her head, and she was _wearing Greek armor_.

For a second, I started, thinking that this was another goddess. But I studied her face, and I realized that though she was wearing Greek armor and carrying a spear, she didn't carry that aura of power that the gods normally did.

No one glanced twice at her however, which told me that none of the commuters saw the armor or the spear. Even in New York, that would be sure to draw at least a little attention.

She was another demigod then. I didn't know whether to be apprehensive or glad. Her eyes suddenly rose up to glare at me. I looked away. I wanted so badly to talk to her, to have a friend that could help me get through this. But what could I do? I was on the run. Whoever her father or mother was, she would fall under the same suspicion as me if I spoke to her.

Never had I felt so cut off from another human being. Sitting right in front of me was a girl just like me – close enough to touch, but yet, that distance was impossible to breach. If I were to reach across that isle, make her aware of my existence, I would place upon her head the same doom that lay upon my own.

I felt helpless. No, worse than that, I felt like a virus. Like my very presence was a contamination.

I closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat, trying to go to sleep without success. When I opened my eyes after a valiant attempt, the girl was gone.

I felt a pang of disappointment, but I forced myself to quell it.

I had only one goal at this point. I had to get the lightning bolt back to Olympus, and pray that the gods would decide to believe me once they had it back.

Then again, I had destroyed Olympus. Likely as not, I was a dead man anyway. Dead boy.

This was _insane! _I wanted to scream, to yell at the unfairness of it all. I was just a kid! How could I be expected to deal with all this at once? It had been less than 24 hours ago that my mom had died, that I had nearly been killed by the Hydra (twice) and been captured and tortured by the gods!

My mom.

I put my head in my hands, letting myself feel the pangs of despair that adrenaline had held off until now. I felt drained and spent, unable to think. I had lost everything in one day. Now I was a fugitive.

I clung to that image of my mom, baking blue cookies in the kitchen. No matter what happened, I had to keep it together. I could mourn my mom when I wasn't being hunted anymore.

I looked up. The commuters were gone, and the only person left on the subway with me was the homeless guy at the other end of the car. There was a ping, and the doors opened again. I didn't know where I was anymore - I wasn't paying attention.

When the doors next opened, I got off. I followed the steps up to the street.

As I had suspected, I had no idea where I was, and it was very dark out. I had a fleeting urge to plot the route that would take me home, but I knew that wasn't an option anymore. I didn't have a home anymore.

My best chance was to find the enemies of the gods, and try and steal the lightning bolt back.

"Perseus Jackson."

I gulped, looking behind me. The only other person in the empty subway station was the homeless guy from the subway car. I started to back away uncertainly.

"You've caused the gods a great deal of vexation," he said, and he began to _change _in front of my eyes. In little under a second, I was staring at another figure dressed in Greek armor, with wings attached to his sandals.

_For fucks sake… _I thought, not daring to believe my eyes. _Wasn't there a limit to the suffering one kid could take in a single day?_

"Please, just leave me alone," I begged, not daring to believe that my pleas would make a difference. "I'm not the lightning thief! All I want is my life back!"

The god shrugged.

"Not my business kid," he said.

"And if it was your kid, and they were telling you that they were innocent?" I asked desperately, trying to stall for time. I didn't want to find out what the punishment was for destroying Olympus.

"I'd tell them to tell the truth, and give up the daughter of Ares, rather than suffer for a crime that isn't theirs," he said.

I froze.

"Zeus only wants to pick a fight with Poseidon," I said carefully. "If I blame Clarisse, Ares will take none of his wrath, and Zeus'll probably kill her, even though her father's the only reason she got messed up in the whole business."

"How noble," the god said. "Are you really willing to place your head on the block for a demigod who very easily ruined your life?"

"Like I said, Ares is responsible for that wrongdoing," I said. "And if you know I'm innocent, why didn't you help me?" the words came out as more of an accusation than a question.

"Athena was convinced one of the gods had gotten their children to steal the bolt," the god shrugged. "It was down to you, the children of Hades, or one of the children of Ares. Clearly, it wasn't you. You lack the…" the god struggled for a moment, seemingly at a loss for the right words. "… Shall we say, means, motive, and opportunity?"

I folded my arms, not disagreeing. I mean, I was twelve! The mention of Hades, however, reminded me of something: I could still save my mom. Heroes had done it before. They had walked into the underworld and walked out with the soul of their loved ones. Hercules had done it.

I could too. I might be young and untrained, and I had no delusions about my lack of skills on this particular playing field, but I was going to save her. Or die trying.

Unfortunately, it seemed like I was going to have to wait until after I managed to get the gods off my back.

"Well, what happens now?" I asked. "Are you going to take me back to Zeus, even though you know I'm innocent?"

The god regarded me for a second, as if amused. I didn't like that he found my predicament funny, but I was kind of at his mercy.

"No," he said finally. "I don't think so. I think you have a lot of promise… if you survive."

The words chilled me, but I tried not to show it.

"And I think that you may be able to stop my son from fulfilling a dark destiny that has been foretold for him," the god finished.

"How on Earth would I be able to do that?" I asked.

"We shall see, no?" There was a glint of mischief in this god's eyes, and I was annoyed by the fact that I was so clearly behind on the times here. I had no clue what the hell was going on.

"Anyway, I'm not going to be the one to tell Zeus where you are, unless you muck it all up and make some huge scene," the god finished. "What you pulled at Olympus though…"

The god was laughing, shaking his head.

"Princeless," he said.

I was left utterly bewildered, standing in a deserted subway station in the early hours of the morning, and wondering how things could get even worse than they were right now.

I didn't think it was possible.

Then again, I didn't know just how much the Fates liked fucking with my life.


End file.
